Chinmayi Sripada backs AR Rahman for allegedly refusing to sing Vande Mataram in an interview: ‘Maybe he felt…'

Music composer, singer AR Rahman received mostly backlash when he hinted at not getting enough work from Bollywood due to a power shift or communal reasons. His words landed him in a controversy. Amid this, singer Chinmayi Sripada came out in Rahman's support after someone made a fresh allegation against him on the internet.

Did AR Rahman refuse to sing Vande Mataram?

According to a user on X, formerly Twitter, AR Rahman once refused to sing Vande Mataram in an interview.

Chinmayi Sripada reacts

Responding to the claims, Chinmayi asserted that Rahman sings his hits like Maa Tujhe Salaam at almost every concert of his. She also shared that the Oscar-winning composer might have refused to sing in an event due to reasons other than what was being assumed.

Chinmayi Sripada wrote, “A R Rahman and all us sang Vande Mataram to a crowd that chanted with us on November 23 2025 in Pune at the R K Laxman memorial award concert. He sings Maa Tujhe Salaam at almost every concert @bainjal- everyone who has attended the concerts knows this. Maybe he felt his voice was not at its best or just didn’t feel like singing that day when you interviewed him. And that’s OK.”

“The responses under this tweet ‘OH THAT EXPLAINS IT’ shows exactly what’s gone wrong in the recent past,” she added.

AR Rahman's controversy over power shift in Bollywood

Rahman came under the scanner after his now-viral statement on the Hindi film industry. Talking to BBC Asian Network, he said that he has lost work in the industry in the last eight years due to a ‘power shift’.

“It might be a communal thing also… but it is not in my face,” he said.

"It comes to me as Chinese whispers that they booked you but the music company went ahead and hired their five composers. I say good, I have more time to chill with my family. I am not in search of work. I don’t want to go in search of work. I want work to come to me; my sincerity to earn work. Whatever I deserve, I get,” he added.

AR Rahman on Chhaava

The composer also opined that Chhaava cashed in on ‘divisiveness’.

“It is a divisive film. I think it cashed in on divisiveness, but I think the core of it is to show bravery. I had asked the director. ‘Why did he need me for this film? But he said that we need only you for this. It is an enjoyable film, but definitely people are smarter than that. Do you think people are going to get influenced by movies? They have something called internal conscience, which knows what the truth is, and what manipulation is,” he said.

He called it ‘cliché and cringe’ whenever something bad happened in a scene, and the characters of the Vicky Kaushal-starrer said words like ‘Subhanallah’ and ‘Alhamdulillah’.